


What Manner of Sins

by Drakine



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, Demise wins, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Non-Consensual Touching, Ratings may change, Slow Burn, additional tags added with updates, mild violence, not spandex verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:54:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21814741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drakine/pseuds/Drakine
Summary: Demise had won, but instead of killing him the Demon King hands Link over to his most Loyal servant, Ghirahim. Link prepares himself for the worst, but what he ends up getting isn't what he expected.
Relationships: Ghirahim/Link (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 83





	1. Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> Slave fic for Ghiralink. This will not be spandex verse, nor is it going to be overly dark. If you're here for torture or extremely dark themes prepare to be disappointed, this fic is a slow burn with an eventual happy ending.

Link’s sword shattered, the force of the blow sending him sprawling back into the shin high water to watch as the shards of metal rained down around him, the hilt still held in his hand. Fi’s voice, her panicked chime, the constant thrum in his head, gone.

He dropped the hilt and pushed himself up onto his knees, looking up as Demise stepped forward and put the tip of his blade underneath Link’s chin, tilting his head up to look at the king of darkness.

He’d lost.

Link looked Demise in the eyes, not afraid to watch his death coming, wanting to look his enemy in the eyes as he took his life.

_I’m sorry Zelda, I failed._

And yet, nothing happened. Demise did not take the final blow. Instead as Link watched the blade under his chin briefly pulsed orange and Demise tilted his head slightly, a grin forming across his features. The sword was pulled away from Link’s throat.

Was Demise just going to leave him here? In this watery battlefield until he wasted away?

“My loyal servant has requested his reward, you will be spared Chosen Hero.”

And then the hilt of Demise’s sword came down and bashed into Link’s temple, knocking him unconscious.

————————————-

Link awoke slowly, his whole body a compilation of aches and stinging cuts, even worse was his head and the massive pounding headache. He curled tightly, lifting a hand to his forehead only to pause as his mind caught up.

Demise. His fight. Zelda.

He shot upright, looking around frantically and startled to find he wasn’t on the battlefield, or back in the Sacred Grounds, but rather he was in an extravagant bedroom and sitting atop a very large and very soft bed. The whole room was dim, only lit by an orange glow from outside but from what little Link could see he was only more confused.

He quickly took stock, a bit disturbed to find he no longer had his tunic but was rather simply in his undershirt and pants, all his bags and items were gone as well. He glanced around the room to see if he could spot them.

The bedspread was patterned with diamonds, as was a rug on the floor and the bed itself had large poles that held up curtains that were currently held aside. There was a small sette couch and a desk with various papers and a quill atop it, there were also ajoining doors, one of which was open and through it Link could see a bathroom.

He was so confused. Where was he?

Link pushed himself off the bed, nearly tumbling to the floor once he put pressure on an injury on his leg he hadn’t noticed before. It was bandaged though, as were all his injuries which only added to his confusion. Had someone rescued him?

He limped over to the closed door, trying the handle and finding it unlocked. He peered out into a hallway, the same dim lighting out here but Link couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He heard distant voices and quietly slipped into the hall and headed towards them.

The voices were louder as he approached but he couldn’t make out words, it sounded almost like the people were talking in another language and Link carefully peered around the corner, paling at what he saw.

They looked similar to bokoblins but also not, impish and taller but wearing guards outfits, finely crafted swords on their belts and they looked less like monsters and more like demonic humans. It was as Link was looking them over that one turned and made direct eye contact with him.

The demon shrieked, alerting the other and Link turned and took off down the hall the best he could, pushing past the pain in his limbs and pulling any reserves of adrenaline he could find.

He could hear the demons behind him, their footsteps and shrieks growing louder and he threw himself around the corner at the other end of the hall, going for the nearest door and yanking it open, throwing himself inside and shutting it behind him and slamming a convenient bolt lock shut.

He froze, listening intently as the shrieks outside grew louder, right outside, then headed further down the hall.

Link let out a slow breath, his whole body trembling and he turned to take in the room he’d gone into.

It looked like a storage room, dusty and full of crates and boxes and various pieces of furniture. Link pushed himself off the door and began to look around. It wasn’t very large, but if necessary he could probably find a spot to hide in here.

He poked around, pushing open one crate to find it full of various cloth, another had a strange asortment of sealed jars with some kind of colored inks, maybe dyes inside. None of it helped him to figure out where he was.

However near the back of the room he found something interesting.

It looked like some kind of ceremonial halberd, clearly not designed to be an overly effective weapon, more showy than sturdy but Link would take what he could get. He poked around the room some more, not finding anything else of use other than the halberd which he took and then went back to the door.

He needed to escape this place and find some answers.

Link listened for a moment, not hearing anything outside and then he cautiously unbolted and opened the door, not spotting anyone in the hallway.

He slipped out, shutting the door behind him and heading back the way he’d initially come. It was quiet, the guards he’d ran into earlier having not come back and he was thankful for that.

He made his way through the halls quickly and quietly, avoiding any voices he heard and ducking carefully into rooms when footsteps headed his way. He felt like he was making real progress when a room he entered, thankfully empty, had a balconey he could step out onto.

The view was not what he was expecting.

It was dark and barren, a morose and black castle surrounded by a burned and rocky hellscape. The light was brighter out here and the air was dry and filled with embers. All around he saw more of the same guards, some with wings that flitted between battlements, far too many for Link to fight or even outrun if he was seen.

He had some idea of where he was, but he horribly wanted to be wrong.

And of course it was at that moment that he was spotted. One of the flying demons had passed close enough to the balconey to see Link and it shrieked, alerting the others and Link bolted back into the room, racing into the hallway and coming up short as he almost ran into one of the guards.

They screeched, pulling out their weapons as Link pulled out his halberd. He lunged, not wanting them to get the upper hand and he managed to plunge the weapon into the first guard’s chest, slipping past the armor and surprised at the ease at which the blade cut through skin.

Black ichor spilled out of the wound as Link pulled back and the first demon collapsed. The second gave an angry sounding roar and lunged, it’s sword strike coming dangerously close to cutting through Link’s side but he used the pole of the halberd to push the blade away.

He then spun the weapon, slamming the butt of it up into the demon’s chin and stunning it before he finished it off, the halberd’s blade sinking deep into the demon’s throat.

Link could hear more coming and he grabbed one of the guard’s swords, held tight to the halberd and ran, looking for a place to hide.

An arrow fired into his calf cut that plan short.

He dropped to the ground with a cry, losing his grip on the halberd but he clung tight to the sword, twisting to face his enemies and feeling despair well up inside him when he saw the five headed towards him. Still he pushed himself to his feet, snarling and ready to fight when a voice rang out in the hall.

“What exactly is going on here.”

The demons stopped, and Link froze. He recognized that voice.

Slowly he turned around, coming face to face with Ghirahim, now back to his usual self including the showy diamond red mantle. He did not look impressed.

“I leave you alone for an hour and you get into all kinds of trouble.”

Link lunged, trying to take Ghirahim off guard only for the spirit to grab the sword out of his hands and throw it to the side. Ghirahim caught Link by the wrist before he could pull back, the grip tight enough that Link thought the sword spirit was going to snap his wrist.

He bared his teeth, not willing to show fear.

Ghirahim sighed, turned to the crowd of demons and waved them off. “go back to your posts.” and then before Link could do anything the demon snapped and teleported them.

The sound of shattering glass had never seemed so loud before and Link grimaced, blinking only to realize he was in the same room he’d woken up in.

“Let’s get something straight Skychild.”

Ghirahim let go of his wrist, only to shove Link back onto the couch he’d seen earlier. “You’re only here because of my mercy, my master should have killed you on that battlefield but I stopped him.”

Link was confused, why would Ghirahim do that?

“Ah I can see that dear confusion upon your face, why would I, Lord Ghirahim, show mercy to an irritating human like you.” Ghirahim leaned in, far too close for comfort with one hand on the back of the couch by Link’s head.

“You see Skychild is very simple. I wanted to keep you as my reward.”

Link blinked at the sword spirit for a moment, not understanding for a moment but as soon as he did his eyes widened and he shrunk back. He’d heard of this, stories spread around on the surface about warlords who kept their enemies as slaves upon winning, it was supposed to be dark campfire tales told to scare and revolt people.

Apparently Ghirahim didn’t get the message.

“So I would appreciate it if you didn’t attack my guards and try to escape, otherwise I’m going to have to punish you.” The way Ghirahim’s eyes lit up on the word punish, Link was not eager to find out what he meant.

And then Ghirahim drew back, moving to kneel in front of Link and the hero was confused until Ghirahim grabbed the arrow stuck in his calf and yanked.

Link’s teeth ground together, eyes clenched shut as he tried not to scream.

“For now I suppose you’ve learned your lesson. But do not try anything like this again.”

Link wanted to snarl, to bare his teeth and fight but he had nothing to fight with. His sword was gone, his escape attempt had gone beyond poorly and he was still injured. So instead he looked away from Ghirahim’s face and gave a tert nod.

Ghirahim sighed. “I suppose that will have to do for now. However,” Ghirahim’s hand lashed out and grabbed Link by the jaw, gripping painfully and forcing Link to look at Ghira, “in the future I’d prefer if you acknowledge what I told you. I’ve noticed you don’t talk but you will show me respect. Understood boy?”

Link gave a more respectful nod, trembling slightly in the spirit’s grip but Ghirahim simply gave a pleased hum and let go, snapping his fingers and summoning what looked like a first aid kid to his side.

“As you can likely understand having what belongs to me injured is a problem. I have plans for you Link, and for them I will need you alive and mostly unharmed.” As Ghirahim spoke he began to tend to the arrow wound in Link’s calf, the hero too startled to move away.

Ghirahim finished up quickly and stood up, snapping again to get rid of the materials.

“Now in the aftermath of such a successful victory I have much to attend to, you will stay in this room and you will keep out of trouble until I come to retrieve you. Do you understand?”

Link nodded again. He wasn’t going to try and escape until he learned more about where he was anyway.

A grin broke across Ghirahim’s face. “Good. Do your best not to disappoint me Skychild.”

And with that the spirit snapped and disappeared.

Link pushed himself off the couch and limped over to the bed, collapsing onto it and drawing himself up into a ball. He could get through this, he just needed to play along until his opportunity to escape came, and then he’d be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Link what have you gotten yourself into


	2. Deals are Struck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? A second chapter in just as many days? Wild.
> 
> This fic is already running away from me and I just started writing it.

“Get up.”

Link startled awake, not having meant to fall asleep in the first place and in his momentary panicked flailing he nearly fell off the bed. Ungracefully he caught himself and pushed himself upright to see Ghirahim watching him.

He didn’t look impressed.

Instead of commenting however Ghirahim merely tossed a bundle of cloth at Link.

The hero caught the cloth on instinct, folding it out in his lap and then blushing up to the tips of his ears. It was an outfit, sort of, lacy and frilly and filled with gold chains made of little diamonds. It was a pale red color, undoubtedly to match Ghirahim, and Link wasn’t sure it would cover much.

Ghirahim, the dog, was all teeth. Grinning at Link like a madman.

“Like it? I had it tailored specifically for you.

Link glared but did nothing otherwise, despite how tempted he was to throw the clothing back at Ghirahim.

“I’m sure a commoner such as you wouldn’t know but it’s fair practice to dress up for special occasions. I’ll be back shortly for you, it’s in your best interests to be wearing that by the time I return. Oh and take the opportunity to bathe yourself Skychild, I’ll not have you embarrassing me with your filth.”

Before Link could so much as think of a retort the demon had disappeared, leaving him sitting on the bed with the outfit and frowning.

He could ignore the order, but his leg still hurt from yesterday and all the injuries he’d acquired from his fight with Demise had yet to stop aching. Ghirahim’s promise of violence would undoubtedly be followed through if Link didn’t do as asked.

At the very least Link would enjoy being clean.

He got up and went into the other ajoining door, finding a pristine bathroom all decked out in white marble with black accents.

There was also an enormous sunken tub in the middle of the room, with multiple taps above it. Link set the cloth bundle on the counter and crouched next to the tub, unsure about how to use it. He turned one randomly, cheering slightly when water began to run out of a pipe and fill the tub.

He felt the water temperature, shivering slightly at just how cold it ran but it wasn’t like Link wasn’t used to freezing water. Several nights of being stuck at the surface and wanting to be some semblance of clean had trained him out of expecting warm water.

Link looked around the bathroom, standing up and shutting the door. He had no doubt Ghirahim could just enter if the demon wanted to but it provided a semblance of privacy that Link dearly needed. Then he carefully stripped down.

His wounds had been carefully bandaged and upon taking off the wrap Link found some of the deeper ones were expertly stitched together.

_‘I wonder if Ghirahim did that or had someone else do it.’_

Either way it didn’t matter right now. The tub was near full and Link leaned over and turned the tap off, then stepped down into the chilly water. There was a fancy bar of soap on the edge of the tub and Link was quick to wash off, scrubbing away all the dried blood and dirt and then quickly dunking himself under the water to rinse off.

His hair was a bit of a challenge but he made do, sudzing up the bar in his hands before he ran the soap through the locks then went underwater entirely to rinse away the dirty soap.

He rose back out of the water and shivered, taking a second to figure out how to drain the tub before he climbed out. Link walked over to a set of cabinets, opening them and finding several towels. He dried off quickly, skin coated in goosebumps in the chill air and then he was faced with a difficult decision.

The outfit.

Link didn’t want to wear it, it was humiliating, but he also didn’t want to find out what Ghirahim would do if he didn’t. He wasn’t in a position to fight back at the moment.

He sighed and picked up a piece of the outfit.

It took him a few minutes to figure out how the outfit went. The pants were straight forward, baggy and black with white accents and red diamonds. There was a sash that he figured out acted as a belt as well as a gold chain used to tie part of it together. The top was a weirdly set together piece that only covered the upper part of his chest, the same black fabric with a large red diamond set right in the center under his throat.

Gold chains connected the piece to sleeves that were cut to reveal his shoulders and then drape loosely on his arms, forming down into a glove that went over his middle finger and thumb to keep it on his hands.

The worst part, Link was finding, was the part that held it all up. A thin gold collar with faintly engraved diamonds that latched around his neck, the fabric thinly looped up to connect to hooks on the inside. Surprisingly it wasn’t uncomfortable, despite all the red diamonds and gold it was light and the fabric it was made of was soft.

If it wasn’t his mortal enemy forcing Link to wear it he might actually like the outfit.

He exited the bathroom, finding the room empty and he wasn’t about to go exploring which gave him some time to kill.

Which left him to worry.

Link struck up a slight pace, the reality of the situation crashing over his head now that he had a free moment that wasn’t spent doing a task or plotting his escape.

Demise had won. Link had failed in his duty and because of it his people were going to suffer. Zelda..... he could only hope Zelda was alive. She had to be, she had still been alive when Link went into the fight with Demise.

He stopped in the middle of the room, dropping his head into his hands.

Skyloft was going to burn, just like the terrible visions he’d had the closer he got to the end of his journey, and he was stuck here in the hands of his enemy, and could do nothing to protect his people.

“Now what has you looking so morose Skychild?”

Link jerked his head up, blinking back the tears that had been prickling in the corner of his eyes. He hadn’t heard Ghirahim come in, either too lost in his own misery or instead of teleporting in Ghirahim had walked like a normal person.

And suddenly he couldn’t stop the words from flying out of his mouth.

“Please, Ghirahim please you can’t let him touch Skyloft!”

Ghirahim looked startled and Link rushed forward, eyes wild and desperate.

“I’ll do anything, anything you want and I’ll be willing, but please don’t let Demise hurt my people.” the tears were back, welling up in the corners of his eyes and he battled with hope that Ghirahim might find his display amusing enough to go through with it.

But Ghirahim didn’t laugh, merely scrunching up his face in an expression Link couldn’t identify before his features smoothed out and he leered at Link.

“Anything? Skychild?”

Link nodded, “Anything at all.”

“Hmm, and if I don’t go through with your pathetic pleas?”

That stung slightly, but Link tried his best to harden his expression and meet Ghira’s eyes. “Then I’ll fight you the entire time, I won’t listen or do anything you tell me.”

Now Ghirahim laughed, positively in titters and before Link could try to continue Ghirahim lashed out, grabbing Link by the wrist and pulling him in close, until his body was pressed up against Ghirahim and he had the spirit snarling in his face.

“You’ll do what I tell you to regardless of any bargaining you brat!” the grip on Link’s wrist tightened and he winced, fully expecting Ghirahim to lash out and hurt him but the demon’s hand loosened after a moment. His other hand came up to cup Link’s jaw and he flinched.

Ghirahim hummed before he tilted Link’s head up so the hero would meet his eyes.

Link wasn’t sure what Ghirahim was thinking, so quick to jump between humor and anger he couldn’t even begin to guess at what was going to happen.

“However... I suppose I could be convinced to speak to my master, should you prove you can follow my directions.” Ghirahim pulled back just enough to look Link over, the hungry look in his eyes made Link shiver. “If you do everything I ask tonight Skychild, you may find I can be very merciful indeed.”

“Thank you.”

Ghirahim let go of him entirely, his typical smirk back on his face. “Don’t thank me yet boy, let’s see if you can’t behave for one evening.” he turned and began to walk out of the room, “Come along.”

Link took a deep breath and followed him. Anything for Skyloft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo boy. Anything is a lot to promise Link.
> 
> For anyone wondering the outfit described is a Ghirahim'ized version of the Gerudo Vai outfit from Botw without the head pieces.


End file.
